Cosmetic Surgery Blog

I must say when I first heard about facial exercises about 8 years ago I was not impressed in the least.  I felt that the ‘Face Lift Without Surgery’ or ‘Exercise Your Way To A Tighter Face’ claims were so over the top.  Not to mention the money being made off of those of us looking for non-surgical solutions was pretty upsetting to me.  So, I set out to debunk the “myth” of facial muscle exercises. Well, in the process of debunking the myth, the myth debunked me—at least for a few of the exercises that I tested out.   Even though I only tried a few facial muscle exercise types, the fact that any of them worked at all shocked me in itself.  

Facial Muscle Exercises for Wrinkles: The How & Why

Wrinkles are a product of a combination of things: sun damage, repetitive movements, thin skin, and natural aging which triggers the breakdown of collagen fibers.  Dynamic wrinkles are the wrinkles and folds which are caused by facial expressions.  Dynamics wrinkles do not remain once you stop the frown, the smile, or the squinting.  Static wrinkles, however, are dynamic lines and furrows which overstay their welcome.  They are essentially there to stay unless you do something about them.  The repetitive movements have caused a breakdown in your collagen and have created a permanent fold.

Some Facial Exercise Examples To Try

First, if you have been thinking about trying your hand at facial exercises, don’t expect too much and you won’t be disappointed.  Ever the optimist! ;)   However, out of all of the face and neck exercises, I felt the sub-mental (under chin area) Lift, or Tongue Press, worked best.  Here are a few that I tried…

 Smoothing Your Brow
Purpose: to remove the superficial lines and wrinkles on your forehead that are caused by raising your brows too much.
Targets: the frontalis, (forehead muscles) and the occipitalis (posterior, or rear, muscles of the head)
How to: Spread your fingers out like a fan with your thumbs folded in (like when you display the number “4” with your hands) Place your fingers where your scalp and hairline meet, near your temples. Gently lift straight up and hold. Next raise your eyebrows, holding that position for 7 seconds and release for a total of 10 times. Your forehead should be devoid of dynamic wrinkles when performing this exercise.
Am I doing this correctly? You should feel a tingling or slight burning sensation (like when working out at the gym) in the rear corners of the head and where your fingers were touching your hairline.  

Crow’s Feet
Purpose: to eliminate the lines that fan out from the outside corners of your eyes.
Targets: the orbicularis oculi, which are the muscles around the eyes.  
How to: Place the ring and middle fingers of each hand at the outer corners of eyes. Gently pull the corner of the eyes toward the hairline and hold. At the same time, close your eyes; hold for 7 seconds and release.  Don’t squeeze your eyes shut as this can cause wrinkles. Your eyelids should be smooth and devoid of dynamic little wrinkles when performing this exercise.  You should do this for a total of 5 repetitions at first.
Am I doing this correctly? You should feel a tingling or slight burning sensation (like when at the gym) in area where your crow’s feet are.  

Groovin’ The Nasolabial
Purpose: Smoothes those nasty little grooves that run from nose to mouth we get when we smile. Grrrrr!!!
Targets: the levator anguli oris (aka caninus), a facial muscle that arises from the maxilla, inclines downward to be inserted into the corner of the mouth, and draws the lips up and back. (Merriam-Webster) *(the maxilla is a facial area closest to the nose, under the eye)
How to: Place both thumbs under your top lip, grasp your lip with sides of index (pointers) fingers; pull your lip straight down and hold for 7 seconds. While holding your lip in place, contract your caninus muscle by trying to pull your lip up into a sneer; hold again for 7 seconds for a total of 5 repetitions.
Am I doing this correctly? Do you feel you look like a complete idiot? Then you are doing it correctly.  Seriously, if you feel a burning sensation in the nasolabial fold then you’ve got it right!

Tongue Press/Sub-mental Lift
Purpose: gets rid of that awful pudgy, looseness underneath the chin. REALLY WORKS!!
Targets: mylohyoid muscle, a flat triangular muscle on each side of the mouth that is located above the anterior belly of the digastric muscle, extends from the inner surface of the mandible to the hyoid bone, and with its mate on the opposite side forms the floor of the mouth. The muscle directly under the chin.
How to: Lace your fingers together, leaving your thumbs sticking out towards you.  Place your thumb pads in the soft area behind the chin and push up gently. At the same time, press your tongue to the roof of your mouth. This will cause your chin muscle to push against your thumbs.  You should feel resistance.  Hold for 7 seconds for a total of 10 repetitions.
Am I doing this correctly?  If you feel a tautness to your under chin area directly after you should be able to tell. Also it doesn’t take long for improvement if you have little or medium laxity of the muscle and NOT lots of loose, mature skin.

Chin/Neck Stretch
Purpose: To tighten the upper neck and under chin area. I LIKE THIS ONE!
Targets:  mylohyoid muscle and the platysmal (neck) muscle.
How to: Look at the ceiling and jut your jaw up away from its natural position as far as possible, almost like you are reaching for the ceiling with your chin.  Hold for 7 seconds for a total of 10 times.
Am I doing this correctly?  You will be able to feel a tightness in the neck and under chin area.  This actually works as well.

Mind you, these face exercises are not going to improve the laxity of the skin itself or improve little static wrinkles that are a result of sun damage in thin-skinned individuals.   Also, you will not go back in time 10 years.  They can and do improve the tautness of the muscles, but I personally find them difficult to remember to do. I guess it should be a part of my morning routine, say, right after I brush my teeth.  But I always forget.  I do notice they do work when I perform them for a while, but the progress fades if I discontinue the regimen.  All I can say is, try it.  It can’t hurt unless you are making dynamic wrinkles in the process.  Let me know what you think!